“François Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận. Witness of Hope”
Hall of the Lateran Treaties, Lateran Apostolic Palace, Rome
25 March 2026
from 16.00 to 17.30
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Road of Hope, a collection of 1,001 reflections addressed by Archbishop François Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận to his faithful during the early months of his long imprisonment, the Cause for Beatification of the Vietnamese Cardinal – who was declared Venerable by Pope Francis on 4 May 2017 – together with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development – the promoter of the cause – and in collaboration with the Dicastery for the Clergy, the Città Nuova publishing house and the Diocese of Rome, wishes to honour the memory of the Cardinal by holding a conference entitled François Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận, Witness of Hope.
The event will take place this coming 25 March in Rome, in the Hall of the Lateran Treaties in the Lateran Apostolic Palace, from 16.00 to 17.30.
It will be inaugurated by His Eminence Cardinal Baldassare Reina, Vicar General of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome.
The speakers will be His Eminence Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Dr. Waldery Hilgeman, postulator of the Cause for Beatification of Cardinal Văn Thuận; His Eminence Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy; and His Eminence Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
Ms. Élisabeth Nguyễn Thị Thu Hồng, sister of Cardinal Văn Thuận, will also speak.
Don Carlo Seno, priest of the diocese of Milan, head of the “Vinea mea” Centre for Spirituality (Loppiano – FI), will play the piano.
The event will be moderated by Alessandro De Carolis of Vatican Radio-Vatican News.
Through the testimonies of those who knew him, and with passages and music drawn from his writings, the conference aims to highlight the relevance of Cardinal François Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận today: a faithful shepherd who was able to transform the experience of a long trial into a space of prayer, forgiveness and self-offering, showing how the light of the Gospel can overcome all darkness. His words bring us a message of hope, a universal spiritual heritage.
During the conference, the Italian edition of the new biography of Cardinal Văn Thuận, written by his sister Élisabeth and published by Città Nuova, will be presented.
It will be possible to follow the event, with simultaneous translation in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese and German, on the Vatican Media YouTube channel, at:
IT: https://www.youtube.com/live/WQk9grOvTL0
EN: https://www.youtube.com/live/qr-lYRm1IGY
ES: https://www.youtube.com/live/7mQNE_tFE_4
FR: https://www.youtube.com/live/8xnl5NQ4jx8
DE: https://www.youtube.com/live/ULjKpE22E6s
PT: https://www.youtube.com/live/JSPZWH-Zwu0
VT: https://www.youtube.com/live/8Mx3gnY3wuE
For information and contacts:
causa.cardinalvanthuan@humandevelopment.va www.cardinalvanthuan.va/it
(+39) 339 6691569
